Late Paleocene-middle Eocene hydrocarbon source rock potential in the Arctic Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin
| Autor: | Stephen E. Grasby, Omid H. Ardakani, Hamed Sanei, Lisa A. Neville, David H. McNeil |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
chemistry.chemical_classification
geography geography.geographical_feature_category 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences biology Stratigraphy Geology Azolla event Structural basin 010502 geochemistry & geophysics Oceanography Azolla biology.organism_classification 01 natural sciences Sedimentary depositional environment Paleontology Geophysics chemistry Arctic Source rock Ridge Economic Geology Organic matter 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Marine and Petroleum Geology. 86:1082-1091 |
| ISSN: | 0264-8172 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.06.042 |
| Popis: | The Natsek E-56 oil and gas exploration well from the Arctic Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin (BMB) was selected for a multi-disciplinary study because its strata contain a record of two major Eocene climate events that affected source rock deposition: the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at ∼55.5 Ma and the early mid-Eocene Azolla event at ∼49 Ma. Rock-Eval data from Natsek E-56 indicates a previously overlooked potentially economically significant interval that occurs just below PETM strata. The pre-PETM unit is an organic rich (∼30% TOC) coaly-shale deposit with good hydrocarbon source rock potential and marginal thermal maturity. This carbonaceous deposit is characterized by a relatively elevated hydrogen index (HI∼149 mg HC/TOC; S2 ∼ 38 mg HC/g Rock) which suggests increased input of liptinitic-rich material similar to the sapropelic boghead coal formed in lacustrine environments in the vicinity of the modern Beaufort-Mackenzie delta plain. In recent years, source rock predictions for the Eocene Arctic were postulated from cores on the Lomonosov Ridge, focusing on organic matter (OM) produced during the Azolla event. OM associated with Azolla also occurs in the Natsek E-56 (TOC ranges from 1 to 14%) but reworked terrestrial matter is a dominant component. The pre-PETM organic rich interval of Natsek E-56 was not recorded at the Lomonosov Ridge, while in Natsek E-56 the interval consists of TOC values double that recorded at any point in the Lomonosov Ridge wells. The occurrence of multiple potential source rocks from the unique depositional environments in the BMB indicates oil and gas potential in late Paleocene-middle Eocene strata of the Beaufort-Mackenzie region. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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